Cree language facts for editors of English and French: Gender

A second piece from Dorothy Thunder and me for the Editors’ Association of Canada and the “Language Portal of Canada” — the federal government’s online information site for language professionals. This one introduces the idea of Gender in Plains Cree.

As dialogue continues to spread about creating Cree language resources — and translations of important documents — it is more and more important for speakers and non-speakers alike to understand some of the ways in which the working of the Cree language is unique. This piece is based on Plains Cree (also known as the y-dialect, or Nêhiyâwêwin), which is Dorothy Thunder’s first language.